Welcome to the Headache Network Canada Website

Bienvenue au site Web du Canada de résauu de mal de tête

Terms of Use Agreement

Headache Network Canada and the Canadian Headache Society have developed this website to provide information to the Canadian public and to health care professionals in Canada with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of headache. In making information about headache available to individuals with headache, our objective is to enable such individuals to work more effectively with their health care providers to manage their headache problem.

It is important that you read all the following terms and conditions carefully. This Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement") is a legal agreement between you and Headache Network Canada and the Canadian Headache Society, the owners and operators ("Owner") of this Web site (the "Web site"). It states the terms and conditions under which you may access and use the Web site and all written and other materials displayed or made available through the Web site (the "Content"). By accessing and using the Web site, you are indicating your acceptance to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not accept these terms and conditions, you must not access or use the Web site. As the Owner may revise this Agreement at any time, you should visit this page periodically to review this Agreement.

The information provided on the Web site is for informational purposes only and is not professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider properly licensed to practise medicine or general health care in your jurisdiction concerning any questions you may have regarding any information obtained from this Web site and any medical condition you believe may be relevant to you or to someone else. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Web site. Always consult with your physician or other qualified health care provider before embarking on a new treatment, diet or fitness program.

The presentation of information on the Web site does not establish a physician-patient relationship between you and the Owner (or any of its physicians) and is not intended as a solicitation of individuals to become patients or clients of the Owner (or any of its physicians). Unless specifically stated, the Owner does not recommend or endorse any specific brand of products, services, procedures or other information that appears or that may be advertised on the Web site.

This website does not accept email communication from users to the owners.

The Web site and the Content are provided "AS IS". While the Owner endeavours to
provide information that is correct, accurate, current and timely, the Owner makes no representations, warranties or covenants, express or implied, regarding the Web site and the Content including, without limitation, no representation, warranty or covenant that (i) the Content contained in or made available through the Web site or any item(s) made available on or through the Web site will be of merchantable quality and/or fit for a particular purpose, (ii) the Web site or Content will be accurate, complete, current, reliable, timely or suitable for any particular purpose, (iii) that the operation of the Web site will be uninterrupted or error-free, (iv) that defects or errors in the Web site or the Content, be it human or computer errors, will be corrected, (v) that the Web site will be free from viruses or harmful components, and (vi) that communications to or from the Website will be secure and/or not intercepted. You acknowledge and agree that your access and use of the Web site and the Content is entirely at your own risk and liability.

In no event shall the Owner, its physicians, officers, directors, employees, agents,
licensors, and their respective successors and assigns be liable for damages of any kind, including, without limitation, any direct, special, indirect, punitive, incidental or
consequential damages including, without limitation, any loss or damages in the nature of, or relating to, lost business, medical injury, personal injury, wrongful death, improper diagnosis, inaccurate information, improper treatment or any other loss incurred in connection with your use, misuse or reliance upon the Web site or the Content, or your inability to use the Web site, regardless of the cause and whether arising in contract (including fundamental breach), tort (including negligence), or otherwise. The foregoing limitation shall apply even if the Owner knew of or ought to have known of the possibility of such damages. The Owner also expressly disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions and conduct of any third-party user of the Web site, or any advertiser or sponsor of the Web site ("third-party"). Under no circumstances shall the Owner, its physicians, officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and their respective successors and assigns, be liable for any injury, loss, damage (including direct, special, indirect, punitive, incidental or consequential damages), or expense arising in any manner whatsoever from (i) the acts, omissions or conduct of any third-party, and (ii) any access, use, reliance upon or inability to use any materials, content, goods or services located at, or made available at, any Web site linked to or from the Web site, regardless of the cause and whether arising in contract (including fundamental breach), tort (including negligence), or otherwise. The foregoing limitation shall apply even if the owner knew of or ought to have known of the possibility of such damages.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Owner and its physicians, officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and their respective successors and assigns, from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities, costs, or expenses whatsoever, including, without limitation, legal fees and disbursements, resulting directly or indirectly from (i) your breach of any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, (ii) your access to, use, misuse, reliance upon or inability to access or use the Web site, the Content or any Web site to which the Web site is or may be linked to from time to time or, (iii) your use of, reliance on, publication, communication, distribution, uploading or downloading of anything (including the Content) on or from the Web site.

The display of third-party trademarks on the Web site should not be taken to imply any relationship or license between the Owner and the owner of the trademark or to imply that the Owner endorses the wares, services or business of the owner of the said trademark.

The Web site contains links to third-party Web sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by the owner of any third-party Web site or the content thereof. The owner is not responsible for the content of any third-party Web site, nor does it make any representation, warranty or covenant of any kind regarding any third-party Web site.

While the Owner encourages links to the Web site, it does not wish to be linked to or from any third-party Web site which contains, posts or transmits any unlawful or indecent information of any kind. The Owner reserves the right to prohibit or refuse to accept any link to the Website. You agree to remove any link you may have to the Web site upon the request of the owner.

The Web site may provide features which allow you to post messages and content to designated areas on the Web site, to participate in chat groups, to interact with the Owner and other users and to upload files, documents, or other materials ("Submission(s)"). The Owner does not control the content of any Submissions and has no obligation to monitor the Submissions. However, the Owner reserves the right at all times to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental or law enforcement request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any Submission, in whole or in part, that, in the Owner's sole discretion, are objectionable or in violation of this Agreement. You acknowledge that you alone are responsible for the content of your Submissions and the consequences thereof.

When using any of the features of the Web site which allow you to post, upload or make Submissions, it is a condition of your use of the Web site that you do not:
1.Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Web site, interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper workings of the Web site or do anything, which in the sole discretion of the Owner, imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Web site infrastructure;
2.Post or transmit any unlawful, abusive, defamatory or obscene information of any kind.
3.Post or transmit any Submission, including, without limitation, articles, images, stories, software, or other material, which violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material which is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights, or which is protected by any intellectual property rights, including, without limitation, copyright, patent, trade secret, trademark, or other proprietary rights herein, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or rights holder;
4.Post or transmit any Submission which contains a virus or other harmful component;
5.Post or transmit "junk mail", "chain letters", unsolicited mass mailing or "spam"; and
6.Use or "mine" the Web site for commercial purposes, including, without limitation, posting, uploading or transmitting any Submission which contains advertising, which engages in commercial activities, solicitations or sales, or which involves contests, sweepstakes, advertising and pyramid schemes.

By posting or uploading Submissions to the Web site, you grant the owner a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, unrestricted, worldwide licence to (i) use, reproduce, store,adapt, translate, modify, make derivative works from, transmit, distribute, publicly perform or display such Submissions for any purpose, and (ii) consent to your name, address and e-mail appearing as the contributor of your submission, where applicable, and to the disclosure and display of such information and any other information which appears in or is associated with your Submission, (iii) acknowledge and agree that the owner is not responsible for any loss, damage or corruption that may occur to your Submission, and (iv) acknowledge and agree that your Submission will be non-confidential.

To use certain features of the Web site, you may be asked to create an account with the Web site. When you register with the Web site, you agree (i) to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by any registration form, and (ii) to maintain and promptly update the information to ensure it remains true, accurate, current and complete. If the Owner has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, the Owner has the right to suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Web site. The Owner's use of any personally identifying information you provide as part of the registration process is governed by the terms of our Privacy Policy.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password you use in association with your account and are responsible for all activities that occur under your user name and password. You agree to notify the Owner immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. The Owner will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the Owner's failure or your failure to protect your password or account information.

Any tools provided on the Web site are provided for general and illustrative purposes only. Such tools and/or calculators are not medical advice nor are they intended to be a substitute therefor. You should not act or abstain from acting based on any information provided by any such tool available on this Web site.

Any information sent or received over the Internet is generally not secure. The Owner cannot guarantee the security or confidentiality of any communication to or from the Web site.

The Owner reserves the right any time, and from time to time, to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Web site (or any part thereof) with or without notice to you. The Owner shall have no liability to you or any third party for any modifications, suspension or discontinuance of the Web site or any part thereof.

Use of this Web site is unauthorized in any jurisdiction where the Web site or any of the Content may violate any laws or regulations. You agree not to access or use the Web site in such jurisdictions. You agree that you are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws or regulations. Any contravention of this provision (or any provision of this Agreement) is entirely at your own risk.

Governing law and jurisdiction. The Web site is operated by the Owners from its offices within the Provinces of Alberta and Ontario, Canada. You agree that all matters relating to your access, or use of the Web site and its Content shall be governed by the laws of the Provinces of Alberta and Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of laws and principles. You agree and hereby submit to the exclusive and preferential jurisdiction of the courts of the Provinces of Alberta and Ontario with respect to all matters relating to your access and use of the Web site and the Content as well as any dispute that may arise therefrom and that the applicable law shall be the law of the Province of Alberta and Ontario and of Canada.

Waiver. Any consent by the Owner to, or waiver of, a breach of this Agreement which you have committed, whether express or implied, shall not constitute a consent to, or waiver of any other, different or subsequent breach.

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement or any covenant contained herein shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision or covenant contained herein and any such invalid provision or covenant shall be deemed severable from the rest of this Agreement.

The Owner may, in its sole discretion, cancel or terminate your right to use the Web site, or any part of the Web site, at any time without notice. In the event of termination,you are no longer authorized to access the Web site, or the part of the Web site affected by such cancellation or termination. The restrictions imposed on you with respect to material downloaded from the Web site and the disclaimers and limitations of liabilities set forth in this Agreement, shall survive termination of this Agreement. The Owner shall not be liable to any party for such termination.

This is the entire Agreement between you and the Owner relating to your access and use of the Web site.

Medications for migraine attacks

Humans have been having migraine headaches for thousands of years. Throughout most of this time, effective medications for migraine treatment were not available, although many different and sometimes strange remedies have been tried over the centuries for which we have written records.

It would seem, then, that for most of our history, migraine sufferers simply had to “suffer” through their attacks. Most people with migraine are quite unwilling to do that today if treatment is available to them, a fact which likely reflects the severity of the pain and discomfort associated with most migraine attacks. Fortunately for our ancestors, however, nature has its own way of terminating a migraine attack. For many people, if they can fall asleep, the attack will be gone when they awaken. Even if sleep does not stop your migraine attacks, most will be over within a day or two. Certainly after three days, the vast majority are gone. Somehow the physiology which underlies the migraine attack ensures that for almost all migraine sufferers, the attacks stop within three days.

Of interest, in many people the brain can be “coached” to stop a migraine headache. In the migraine clinical trials that are done to test new medications for the treatment of migraine, patient participants usually receive either the new drug or a matching placebo tablet. Because these trials are done in a “blinded” fashion, the patient does not know if he or she is getting the placebo or active drug. The placebo tablets are a completely inactive substance with no physiological activity. Nevertheless, in such trials 15 to 30% of people who receive the placebo have headache relief within two hours, with their headaches going from a severe or moderately severe intensity down to a mild level or to no headache.

This does not mean that migraine attacks are somehow purely psychological in nature. All painful conditions respond to placebo to some extent. Because the trial participants know there is a good chance that they will receive the active drug, at least some of them expect headache relief. And the brain delivers this expected relief, likely by shutting down the pain through the brain’s own pain control systems.

This “placebo effect” may have been helpful to our ancestors. Even though they did not have access to effective modern medications, some of them will have experienced relief from whatever treatment was offered at the time through the “placebo response” because of their expectation that the treatment would be effective.